Ecommerce integration refers to the process of connecting multiple eCommerce platforms. It is important for SaaS application providers to get connected with multiple eCommerce platforms, as a means to gain a competitive edge.
In simple terms, the process of connecting the SaaS applications with multiple marketplaces or shopping carts is called as eCommerce integration. Ecommerce integration is important as it enables business owners to better manage their online stores with integrated data, products, shipment, carts, and other important aspects. The eCommerce integration of shopping cart and marketplace also enables store owners to expand the customer base and improve revenue by targeting a large marketplace.
Here in this blog, we will be looking to get some basic introduction to eCommerce integration, and how it may help online stores get more from their businesses.
The Despairs of Digital Solitude
If you have been running an online store, you must be aware of the rather standalone character of the store. From the outside, eCommerce stores don’t ideally fit into the digital ecosystem of businesses. These stores come with their unique dashboards, and reporting formats, parallel to the other internal operations or financial reports of your business.
Without a robust eCommerce integration, your employees will be spending hours every week just to reconcile the information from the online store with the other systems like ERP, shipping solution, warehouse management system, and others. The manual reconciliation isn’t just time-intensive, but it also opens up loopholes for errors. This may result in reputational or financial losses for online stores.
To add to the woes of disconnected eCommerce stores from warehouse management also significantly reduce the efficiency of the shipping process. The more complex the pay-to-order process for your online store, the greater time and cost it will take to process and ship the orders. And we haven’t just factor in the errors that come with manual entry; significantly alleviating the financial implications for businesses.
Another despair for a standalone eCommerce platform is the inherent limitation to update customers about new offerings or products. Until you have an integrated inventory management system connected to the online store, you won’t be able to keep customers updated about the items in stock or new product offerings.
The Cross-Channel Conundrum
The digital revolution has forced all businesses to maintain an online sales channel. However, the online channel only represents a single sales channel. Most traditional brick-and-mortar stores keep their physical sales channel open for customers, as a primary means of doing business.
Now, in such cross-channel corundum, businesses need an integration solution to bring about the information from multiple channels into one unified platform. In fact, businesses today are increasingly adopting the eCommerce integration solution that enables customers to pay through the digital channel while receiving goods from the other channel and vice versa. This maximizes the opportunity for businesses to sustain and grow across all sales channels, as well as, offer customers a streamlined support service through call centres, fulfilment centres, and retail locations.
Without robust eCommerce integration, managing different aspects of business like supply chain, operations, finance and others for cross-channel corundum may become impossible for businesses.
Ecommerce Integration – The Competitive Advantage you need for your Ecommerce Store!
The advantages of using e-commerce integration are loud and clear for online businesses. It’s a worthy investment that gives online stores a tool to connect all business functions across multiple sales-channels through a unified platform.
The proposition for businesses to integrate technology solutions for eCommerce integration becomes even more tempting with the pre-built connectors like Dynamic Shopify integration with 365, AX, Amazon & NAV Connector.
When you are choosing an eCommerce integration solution, make sure to choose the connector with a bidirectional integration option. For instance, if you are looking to integrate business information with Microsoft Dynamics 365 finance and NAV Magento, the solution should be able to send and receive information from Dynamics 365 to Magento and vice versa.
Also, make sure that the ecommerce integration you choose can be deployed quickly and seamlessly with your ecommerce platform, and ERP system. In this regard, cloud-based solutions are highly recommended for effectiveness and efficiency.
Conclusion
Ecommerce has become an essential component for all businesses looking to sustain or grow. However, setting up an online store is just the beginning. To be able to run and manage an ecommerce store, you need the tools and connectors to automate the flow of communication between the ecommerce platform and other business systems like ERP or inventory management system.
Professional ecommerce integration companies like Folio3 can help you achieve the right connection between the online store and existing systems you need to sustain and grow in the competitive market.
